The state's 200-year-old statute making adultery a crime remains after the Senate voted to kill a bill repealing the unenforced law.

The Senate also yesterday voted to give the secretary of state greater flexibility in setting the date for the New Hampshire Presidential primary in order to maintain its first-in-the-nation status.

Although the House already approved repealing the criminal adultery law, Sen. Bette Lasky, D-Nashua, said the civil statute is vague. "Repealing the statute is problematic without first changing the civil code," she said.

When the law was first passed, the penalty included standing on a gallows with a noose around the neck.